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Circle incurred $1.4 billion in distribution costs connected to Coinbase in 2025, up from $924.5 million the year before, according to the company's own 10-K filing. Those distribution costs equaled roughly 51% of its total 2025 revenue and reserve income. USDC circulation grew 72% year over year to $75.3 billion in the fourth quarter, and […] The post USDC’s 72% surge exposed the expensive truth behind Circle’s stablecoin dominance appeared first on CryptoSlate.

Japanese investment bank Mizuho reiterated its neutral rating on Circle, saying OCC approval for a national trust bank doesn't address slowing USDC growth or rising competition.

Circle announces it received final OCC approval for a national trust bank that will initially serve the company and affiliates, with possible future custody services for institutional clients. USDC stablecoin issuer Circle on Friday announced it received final approval from the US Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) to establish First National Digital Currency Bank (FNDCB), a national trust bank that will operate under the name Circle National Trust. “OCC approval to establish Circle National Trust marks a defining step in bringing blockchain technology and digital assets into the core of the US financial system,” Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire said. The approval comes after Circle applied for the charter in June 2025, allowing it to establish a federally regulated trust institution and expand its digital asset custody infrastructure. Read more

Dune data shows Tether's USDT has become crypto’s dominant payments stablecoin while Circle's USDC powers DeFi, highlighting how blockchain choice shapes stablecoin use. The world’s biggest stablecoins are increasingly becoming chain-specific financial products, with Tether’s USDt (USDT) and Circle’s USDC (USDC) serving distinct roles across the crypto ecosystem rather than competing head-on. Dune’s Digital Asset Brief found that USDT overwhelmingly dominates onchain payments. During the first half of 2026, the biggest stablecoin settled about $95 billion in identified commerce payments, compared with $14 billion for second-biggest USDC. It also accounted for roughly 92% of the $48 billion in business-to-business payment volume. On Tron, USDT’s largest network, around 93% of the token’s supply is held in ordinary wallets rather than on exchanges, underscoring its role as a payment and remittance asset. USDC, meanwhile, has established itself as the dominant stablecoin in decentralized finance. USDC on Base pr...

Standard Chartered and Circle launch bank-led USDC minting and redemption for institutions, starting in Dubai’s DIFC with planned global expansion. Standard Chartered and USDC issuer Circle have developed a system that lets institutional clients mint and redeem the USDC stablecoin through a bank-led onboarding process. Standard Chartered said Thursday it is the first Global Systemically Important Bank (G-SIB) to offer such services for USDC, bringing stablecoin access into the same risk, compliance and governance frameworks used in traditional banking. Clients will be able to mint and redeem the US dollar-backed stablecoin directly through StanChart's platform instead of opening separate accounts with Circle. “By embedding USDC access directly within Standard Chartered’s institutional offering, Standard Chartered will bring together banking, custody, and digital asset services within one integrated offering,” the announcement said. The initial rollout will be through the Dubai International Financial Centre (...

The stablecoin market has long rewarded the companies that issue digital dollars. They take in customer cash, hold reserves in short-term government securities, and earn the yield. Now, the companies that distribute those tokens want more of the economics. That tension is at the center of Open USD (OUSD), a planned stablecoin backed by more […] The post Coinbase helped build USDC – Why is it now backing the stablecoin trying to replace it, Open USD? appeared first on CryptoSlate.

Allaire says the stablecoin fight will hinge on liquidity, integrations and regulated usage once OUSD goes live. The post Circle CEO says Open USD must break USDC’s network effect before its 140 backers matter appeared first on CryptoSlate.

The move deepens BNY's partnership with Circle and builds on the bank's role as the primary custodian of USDC reserves. BNY has expanded its Digital Asset Custody platform to let institutional clients store, transfer, mint and redeem Circle's USD Coin, making it the first stablecoin supported on the platform. The new capabilities allow BNY clients to convert US dollars into USDC and redeem the stablecoin back into dollars directly through the bank while also storing and transferring USDC on its custody platform. BNY said it plans to expand the service to additional stablecoins and digital cash workflows over time. The expansion builds on BNY's existing role as the primary custodian of the assets backing USDC, extending its relationship with Circle beyond safeguarding reserve assets to include client-facing stablecoin services. Read more

The world's largest custody bank is adding USDC custody and minting services as stablecoins move deeper into traditional finance.

Users face a September exit deadline while fresh Solana minting signals show liquidity moving faster than recovery systems. The post Solana’s $1B USDC mint collides with DeFi app shutdown as users face unfinished Drift recovery appeared first on CryptoSlate.

EU Crypto Kill Switch vs Russia's Stablecoin Fees The post Europe Just Got the Power to Ban Entire Countries From Crypto, And Russia Hit Back With Fees on USDT and USDC the Same Day appeared first on Cryptonews.

Travala’s new protocol lets AI agents search and book hotels with USDC on Base, but travelers still approve the final payment. Singapore-based crypto travel platform Travala has launched a protocol it says lets artificial intelligence agents search, reserve and pay for hotels with USDC (USDC) on layer-2 blockchain Base, extending agentic AI stablecoin payments into travel bookings. The Travala Travel MCP is live through Claude Desktop, with outside developers able to integrate it into their own travel agents, Travala said in a statement sent to Cointelegraph. The company said the system connects Travala’s hotel inventory to AI agents through the Model Context Protocol, an open standard for linking AI apps to external tools. Payments use Coinbase’s x402 protocol on Base, with Travala saying the setup allows gasless USDC transactions, near-instant settlement and transaction costs of about $0.01 per booking. Read more

The payments giant said USDC, PYUSD, RLUSD and other stablecoins will support new settlement options across multiple blockchains. Mastercard announced its plans to expand its settlement capabilities to let issuers and acquirers settle some card transactions using regulated stablecoins.  On Wednesday, Mastercard said the new capabilities will include intraday, weekend and holiday card settlement, supporting both fiat currencies and onchain settlement through regulated stablecoins. The company said the new options are designed to give its partners more flexibility in managing settlement liquidity and timing.  The expansion shows stablecoins moving deeper into mainstream financial infrastructure as major payments networks test tokenized dollars for settlement. It follows Mastercard securing a New York BitLicense in May, allowing its US transaction services unit to conduct regulated digital asset business activity in the state.  Read more

Privacy protocol Zama says it will accelerate compliance measures after a court lifted a $12.5 million USDC freeze tied to an unrelated legal dispute. Privacy-focused blockchain protocol Zama said it will accelerate compliance measures and proceed with its confidential USDC launch after a US court lifted a temporary freeze on about $12.5 million in USDC held in its cUSDC smart contract, according to a Tuesday X post by co-founder Rand Hindi. The freeze, first reported by Cointelegraph on Saturday, stemmed from a temporary restraining order obtained in connection with an ongoing dispute involving stakeholders of an unrelated project, Overnight Finance. Circle froze the funds after receiving the court order, even though Zama was not a party to the case, according to Hindi's account. “The same court has now lifted the freeze, determining that it was unwarranted,” Hindi wrote. He added that the protocol's cUSDC contract and all underlying USDC had returned to normal operation. Read more

Ripple RLUSD Targets Türkiye to Rival USDT and USDC The post XRP News: Ripple Targets Turkey Inflation Market: Can RLUSD Beat USDT and USDC? appeared first on Cryptonews.

The $12.6 million in USDC was likely frozen in connection with an ongoing but unrelated civil court case, according to onchain sleuth ZachXBT. Stablecoin issuer Circle froze $12.6 million in USDC dollar-pegged tokens linked to privacy protocol Zama’s confidential USDC smart contract on Saturday, according to onchain sleuth ZachXBT. The smart contract is “publicly labeled” on block explorers and the privacy protocol’s technical documentation, ZachXBT said.  The exact reason for the freeze is “unclear,” he said, adding that wallets linked to the Overnight Finance decentralized finance (DeFi) protocol deposited $12.4 million into the Zama protocol on May 11, 2026. He said: Read more

The feature lets users earn stablecoin yield directly through Trezor Suite without connecting external wallets or using separate DeFi apps. Trezor has integrated native stablecoin yield functionality into Trezor Suite, the hardware wallet provider’s desktop and mobile application, in a move that could make earning yield on stablecoins more accessible to users who have traditionally avoided decentralized finance due to its complexity and security risks. Announced on Thursday, the feature comes through an integration with Morpho, a decentralized lending protocol built on Ethereum. The integration allows users to deposit USDt (USDT) and USDC (USDC) into pre-selected Morpho vaults directly through Trezor Suite without connecting external wallets or using separate DeFi applications. According to Trezor, deposits, withdrawals and reward claims are signed directly on users’ hardware wallets through the company’s clear-signing interface, which displays transaction details in human-readable form on the device screen. ...

XBIT DEX takes the lead in introducing leverage to on-chain prediction markets, prioritizing the 2026 FIFA World Cup for its initial category. The whitelist application is now live. XBIT DEX takes the lead in introducing leverage to on-chain prediction markets, prioritizing the 2026 FIFA World Cup for its initial category. The whitelist application is now live. May 27, 2026 - On-chain prediction markets are undergoing explosive growth. In March 2026, monthly trading volume surpassed $25 billion, a more than 20-fold increase compared to the same period last year. Polymarket has become the official prediction market partner for X, and Coinbase has launched prediction contracts across all 50 US states. However, while users and capital are flooding in, product architecture has yet to keep pace. Currently, mainstream prediction market platforms still predominantly rely on a spot logic of full-amount purchasing and waiting for settlement. Users lack tools to add positions, hedge, or flexibly adjust risk exposure th...

The new card lets users spend USDC balances through online, in-store and contactless transactions while accessing ATM withdrawals in supported regions. Layer-1 blockchain developer Solayer launched a Visa-compatible payment card that allows users to spend USDC balances through in-store, online and contactless transactions. The card supports ATM withdrawals in supported regions and can be ordered through the Solayer Pay app, according to the announcement. Existing users can request the card for free, while new users pay a $20 annual activation fee. Source: Solayer Pay Read more

Circle raised $222 million in an ARC token presale led by a16z Crypto as Q1 revenue hit $694 million and USDC circulation climbed to $77 billion. Circle Internet Group agreed to sell 740 million ARC tokens for $222 million in a private placement led by a16z Crypto, valuing the Arc blockchain network at $3 billion on a fully diluted basis. The New York Stock Exchange-listed issuer of the USDC stablecoin disclosed the token presale Monday alongside its first-quarter 2026 results, which showed higher revenue and reserve income but lower net income. The round was led by a16z Crypto and backed by a consortium including BlackRock, Apollo Funds, ARK Invest, Bullish, General Catalyst, Haun Ventures, Intercontinental Exchange, IDG Capital, Janus Henderson Investors, Marshall Wace, SBI Group and Standard Chartered Ventures. Read more